


somewhere near infinity

by myn_x



Series: tumblr requests [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Mostly Platonic, just bros being dudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 03:37:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8041000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myn_x/pseuds/myn_x
Summary: Anon said: For a scenario, maybe Tanaka/Nishinoya fighting about who’s the better bro





	somewhere near infinity

**Author's Note:**

> find the original post [here](http://ohmykokuroo.tumblr.com/post/150003647046/anon-said-for-a-scenario-maybe-tanakanishinoya)

The squeak of sneakers subsided as all but two of the Karasuno High volleyball club left the gym. It had been yet another lengthy, intense practice, and no one could scrape up any energy to entertain Tanaka and Nishinoya’s antics.  

The pair were on opposite sides of the net, returning the ball back and forth, the space between their eyebrows furrowed in concentration. The sweat from practice had long since dried, but new beads of sweat glistened under the fluorescent lights.  

 _Thwap, thwap. Thwap, thwap._ The ball hadn’t touched the floor for some time before Noya continued their argument, which they’d decided to sort out through volleyball (their strength) rather than with words (their weakness).

“The libero has _everyone’s_ backs. So I’m the better bro, bro.”

Tanaka barely managed to get the ball back over the net with his wrist. “Dude, you are obviously the best volleybro, but who snuck you your silly popsicles through your second-story window when you got grounded for failing that math test last week? And covered for you when you missed practice?”

“First of all, bro, they aren’t silly.” The return came up short and the ball grazed Noya’s fingertips. He shook off the miss and rolled the ball under the net.

“Second, you got serious bro points for that, but!” Noya paused while Tanaka scooped up the ball. The fatigue weighed his shoulders down; they’d been at this for over an hour now. “But only a true bro would lend another bro 5000 yen so he could buy a girl a gift… and then be his shoulder to cry on after she took the gift and rejected him.”

Tanaka’s serve was hard and he punctuated it with a squawk; the ball hissed past Noya’s ear and landed out of bounds. “A true bro would not hit that low, would not speak of another bro’s moments of weakness. Also, I did not _cry_.”

“On come on, Ryuu. You were a puddle.” Noya wondered if anyone really appreciated the power behind Tanaka’s serves, which were all the more dynamic when he was heated.

“We weren’t supposed to talk this out.”

The exhaustion in Tanaka’s voice made Noya turn to face him, to look into eyes he knew better than his own. “Well, we’re even, so I don’t think volleyball is going to solve anything.”

They took down the net and put the equipment away amid the unbearably loud silence of unresolved tension.

Noya could proudly say he knew Tanaka best–knew what drawer his underwear went in, knew how he liked his breakfast cold–and there wasn’t anyone, not even Tanaka himself, who could argue with him. He was a literal bro. Saeko wasn’t Saeko; she was Nee-san.  

He picked up a stray volleyball, so familiar in his hands but somehow less familiar than Tanaka’s presence beside him. Noya could think of all the reasons he was the better bro in an instant, in the time it took for him to toss the ball above his head and catch it.

But for every time Noya was there for Tanaka, there was also a time Tanaka had been there for him. They’d seen each other through bad marks and cram sessions, the team’s slow, unsteady climb to a place where they won more than they lost, unrequited puppy love. Everything. They were sidekicks. Partners in crime. Equal, just like their score. This was a pointless fight.  

“Ryuu, how about we call it a draw?” Noya asked.  

“Sure, Noya.” Tanaka locked the gym door and turned to Noya, grinning deviously. “As the taller of the two of us, though, I’m the better bro. There’s simply more of me.”

“Quality over quantity!” Noya shouted, jumping on Tanaka’s back. He wrapped his legs around Tanaka’s waist and his arms over Tanaka’s shoulders and across his chest.

Tanaka tried to grab Noya and pull him off, but the other’s grip was viselike. “You… are… really…  strong…”

His sentence was cut short when he lost his balance on the uneven sidewalk. They were in a gangly heap; Tanaka was flat on his back and Noya was splayed across him, unharmed.

Tanaka had instinctively pried Noya off and maneuvered his own body so that he took the brunt of the fall. “You know I’d do pretty much anything for you, right?”

“Yeah, I know.” Noya hid his surprise at Tanaka’s frankness–and their closeness–by making a show of getting up and dusting himself off. He gruffly added, “I’d do the same for you.”

Noya offered a hand to his friend. “You’ve one-upped me now, bro. I shouldn’t have… Are you hurt?”

“Nah, just a little dazed.” Tanaka took the smaller, _familiar_ hand, a hand that had been offered to him more times than he could count. “Let’s go home.”

Noya wasn’t good with numbers, but he knew the number of times Tanaka had sacrificed his own back for him–figuratively and literally–was somewhere near infinity.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://ohmykokuroo.tumblr.com) || [other tumblr](http://zeppellii.tumblr.com) || [twitter](https://twitter.com/lovedeluxxxe)


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